SoftBank Partners With Saudi Arabia On Fund That Could Grow To $100B by PitchBook
SoftBank will form a new fund—tentatively called the SoftBank Vision Fund—that could invest up to $100 billion into the global technology industry; the vehicle is expected to deploy at least $25 billion over the next five years. In addition, a partnership with the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia could see PIF invest up to $45 billion in the fund.
While SoftBank has long been active investing in tech via its corporate venture capital arm SoftBank Capital, the company announced it was winding down that division last June in an effort to move from early-stage investments to writing bigger checks for more mature companies. The sheer size of this new fund seems to reflect that strategy. PIF will look to build upon a portfolio that currently includes Uber following a $3.5 billion investment in June.
